Count as unimpressed Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the influential Congresswoman and Obama administration pick for under secretary of state for arms control. She spoke yesterday at a conference co-sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency. "If you were there and you are a supporter of the Airborne Laser program, you didn't have a good morning," InsideDefense.com quips.

Noting that the program is eight years behind schedule and $4billion over cost, Tauscher said ABL [Airborne Laser] is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over despite failing each time.

Of course, any defense program worth billions will have its defenders in Congress, too. Yesterday, seven House members sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking him to hold onto the laser jet, despite all the difficulties.

Should the ABL be severely under-funded or canceled, the promise of speed-of-light and extreme precision in the hands of the warfighter will disappear, as will the fragile industrial base that supports it. In short, we will have wasted the resources that have been well invested since the Clinton administration.

ABL has been declared all-but-dead before – only to rise again. Maybe these Conggressmen will be able to rescue their flying lightsaber, one more time.